Mobius iVibe receives Product of the Year Grand Award

Plant Engineering presented its 2013 Product of the Year Grand Award to Mobius iVibe at the March 31 awards dinner in Chicago. The 26th annual Product of the Year awards, the highest recognition of innovation for manufacturing products, honored 57 new products in 16 categories.

Lincoln Electric of Cleveland was formally recognized for its 2013 Top Plant award at the dinner.

“The Mobius iVibe is the first mobile application ever to receive a Product of the Year Grand Award,” said Plant Engineering content manager Bob Vavra. “This is one indication of how access to plant floor information is changing and evolving, but it’s also a good example of how to make critical data available to all workers in a manufacturing environment.”

Made by the Mobius Institute, the iVibe is an extensive vibration analysis mobile application that assists machine analysts in identifying machine faults from various perspectives. It can help diagnose most common machine fault conditions as well as obscure conditions such as cavitation, rubbing, eccentric rotating assemblies, resonance, soft foot, improperly installed bearings, and drive belt issues.

Doug Lance of Lincoln Electric accepted the award on behalf of the company’s employees in Cleveland. “Lincoln Electric was honored to be a part of this prestigious event honoring leading manufacturers in the industrial sector,” Lance said. “Winning the Top Plant award was an honor and a reflection of the dedication and passion of all the workers in the machine division in Cleveland, Ohio.”

Beyond its manufacturing excellence, Lincoln Electric was recognized for its achievement in manufacturing and its innovation in delivering solutions to help train and educate the next generation of plant workers. For example, their unique robotic welding simulator is a teaching tool that allows students to safety learn welding techniques without risking the student or wasting welding materials.

“During the recession, at a time when some manufacturers cut people or benefits, Lincoln Electric maintained both its staff and its profit-sharing program. Their flexible work environment is a benchmark for others to follow,” Vavra said. “As a Lean manufacturer, they also have their eye on continuous improvement. As a company, they are committed to helping fill the Skills Gap in manufacturing, and their leadership in this area is important.”

To further emphasize the importance of the Skills Gap issue, it was announced at the dinner that Plant Engineering and Control Engineering would expand its recognition of young professionals in manufacturing. The Engineering Leaders Under 40 program will recognize the outstanding individuals who are shaping the future of American manufacturing.

“Plant Engineering readers once again cited the lack of skilled workers as the biggest issue they face in growing their business,” said Vavra. “We want to continue to bring light to the importance of this issue. We will highlight the ways manufacturers and communities are banding together to support and promote modern manufacturing skills programs. We hope the Engineering Leaders Under 40 program will provide further incentive to explain why young people are choosing manufacturing as a profession.”

Nomination for the Engineering Leaders Under 40 will be accepted through July 15, 2014. Those selected will be featured in the September 2014 issue of Control Engineering, which will be the magazine’s 60th anniversary issue, and the September 2014 issue of Plant Engineering as part of its annual workforce development issue.

Nominations are also now open for the 2014 Product of the Year and Top Plant recognitions. Nomination forms can be found on the home page at www.PlantEngineering.com.

The deadline for those two programs is Sept. 12, 2014. The finalists for the 2014 Product of the Year awards will be announced in the November issue of Plant Engineering, and online at PlantEngineering.com. The 2014 Top Plant recipients will be announced in the December issue of Plant Engineering.

Annual Salary Survey

Before the calendar turned, 2016 already had the makings of a pivotal year for manufacturing, and for the world.

There were the big events for the year, including the United States as Partner Country at Hannover Messe in April and the 2016 International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago in September. There's also the matter of the U.S. presidential elections in November, which promise to shape policy in manufacturing for years to come.

But the year started with global economic turmoil, as a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing triggered a worldwide stock hiccup that sent values plummeting. The continued plunge in world oil prices has resulted in a slowdown in exploration and, by extension, the manufacture of exploration equipment.